Soprano Sheila Dietrich sings movements of Cantata 199; the BATC Chamber Choir, Tenor Brian Thorsett, and Bass Adrian Smith, combine for a performance of Bach’s 1707 Cantata BWV 131, based on Psalm 130.  The day will end with orchestral, choral, and audience performances of a Bach chorale from Cantatas 75 and 99, with the Taylor and Boody Organ played by Florence Jowers heard in all its glory!

BATC CHAMBER CHOIR & ORCHESTRA
Paul D. Weber, music director & conductor
Florence M. Jowers, accompanist

SOLOISTS & CHOIR
Sheila Dietrich, soprano
Charles Humphries, countertenor
Brian Thorsett, tenor
Adrian Smith, bass

S: Nancy Dennis, Autry Harper, Sarah Grove-Humphries, Megan Sharp, Kaitlyn Townsend
A: Laura Douglass, Sean Dye, Sarah Hamilton, Jonathan Schakel, Anne Stanford
T: Benjamin Geier, Chris Mayfield, Aaron Reichert, Daniel De Tablan, Joel VanderZee
B: Jonathan Bolena, Sam Johnson, Sam Kauffman, Shane Siebken, Alex Storrs

CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Carlos Rafael Arroyo Martinez, JiHyun Baik,  violin
Andrew Gonzalez, viola, viola da spalla, Carlos Walker, viola
Zhihao Wu, cello, Lorenzo Nigrelli, double bass
Jeanette Zyko, oboe, Suzanne Pattison, bassoon
Florence Jowers, Joel VanderZee, continuo organ

BWV 199: Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut, Cantata for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity (1714)
Cantata 199 dates from Bach’s Weimar period and was probably first performed in August of 1713 or 1714.  The libretto is based on the Sunday Gospel from Luke 18, the story of a boastful religious leader and a repentant sinner.  The cantata graphically portrays a man tormented by his consciousness of sin.  His remorseful prayer, “God be gracious to me, a sinner!” is quoted verbatim in movement 3.  Now in the second half of the work, the penitent finds comfort in the mercy and grace of God and is filled with joy.

BWV 131: Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, Cantata for Various Occasions (1707)
The autograph manuscript of BWV 131, Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir (Out of the depths I call, Lord, to you), includes a hand-written inscription at the end which says, “At the request of Dr. Georg Christian Eilmar set to music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Organist at Mühlhausen.”  Bach had taken up the position of organist at St. Blasius Church in Mühlhausen on Sunday, July 1, 1707, at the age of 22.  This cantata, therefore, is one of Bach’s earliest, most likely from 1707.  Eilmar, pastor of the Marienkirche in Mühlhausen, became a trusted friend of Bach and was godfather to Bach’s first child.  Bach’s duties as organist included the composition of music, not for Sunday services, but for special occasions, such as weddings, funerals and the annual installation of the town council.  In May of 1707, the town of Mühlhausen suffered a devastating fire that destroyed 360 buildings and left many families homeless.  BWV 131, with its penitential text, may have been composed for a special service related to the fire.  The text is Psalm 130, the penitential psalm paraphrased by Luther in his first and most beloved hymn, “Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir” (“Out of the Depths I Cry to You”).  As an early work of Bach, the cantata has no distinct movements, no pauses between choruses and arias.  Each new emotion or idea prompts changes in meter, tempo, texture, and emotional affect. 
The cantata has a symmetrical structure: the first, third and final sections are 4-part chorus settings of the biblical text. The second and fourth sections, for soloists, combine psalm verses with stanzas of the chorale “Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut” (“Lord Jesus Christ, You Highest Good”). The choruses of BWV 131 take the shape of prelude and fugue — not surprising from a young composer whose success so far had come from his virtuosity as an organist.  Fugues were a natural part of Bach’s musical language.  Writing to a biographer long after his father’s death, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach recollected that his father’s “own reflection alone made him, even in his youth, a pure and strong fugue writer.” —Gwen Gotsch
        
Cantata 131 may very well be Bach’s first cantata.  If not, it is the first autograph manuscript of Bach that we possess and, for that reason alone, it is highly significant.  The conclusion of the cantata may startle the listener.  Perhaps reflective of the penitential nature of the text, or mindful of Luther’s hymn on Psalm 130 in the Phrygian mode, Bach’s concluding phrase ends with a Phrygian cadence on the psalm’s final words, “He will redeem Israel from all its sins.”  For the modern listener this archaic cadential formula may sound somewhat incomplete, but it is characteristic of the Phrygian scale and reminiscent of prior musical treatments, especially Luther’s hymn on Psalm 130.  The psalm text and Bach’s musical setting communicate that, even as we continue to cry for help and relief, there is hope: God’s final redemption is assured. — Paul Weber              

BWV 75: Die Elenden sollen essen, Cantata for the First Sunday after Trinity (1723)
The concluding chorale of tonight’s program, “Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan,” (“Whatever God does, is well done”) reminds us of divine mercy and forgiveness.  The joyful instrumental and choral settings are from Bach’s first Leipzig cantata from 1723 and are a fitting companion to Bach’s first autograph score, Cantata 131.  After the chorale settings from Cantata 75, the organist will play a recently discovered Bach chorale prelude based on the tune, during which the audience is invited to stand and join the chamber choir and orchestra in singing the final chorale from Cantata 99 to celebrate Bach’s birthday.

Organ Chorale Prelude, BWV 1116 (Neumeister), “Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan“
The audience stands for the organ prelude and final chorale.  All are invited to sing the melody or harmony.

Final Chorale sung by all, BWV 99, What God ordains is good indeed